Blue State

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source: Blue State

As per my summary, this film had no theatrical play-dates, very rightfully so, This a perfect example of a second feature film & not worth a solo showing especially at todays prices. I will not go into the political stuff as other reviewers did. What I think of the story line as there really is none? This is another road trip movie. It was filmed in Winnipeg Canada & area for under One Million Dollars. A nice tax write-off for the producers. This was written & directed by Marshall Lewy,this is his first full-length feature. Let us hope he improves,the script & direction is adequate for this type of film. The stars are Breckin Meyer (from TV), His performance is' not bad, but not that good either, and Anna Paquin who as child actress won a supporting role Oscar (The Piano) has done better adult roles. The rest of the cast also is adequate. The cinematography was mostly by hand-held cameras & it was very annoying,. The song score was not too bad. The movie runs 92 LONG minutes. Ratings: ** (out of 4) 61 points (out of 100) IMDb 5 (out of 10)

Considering that this movie is 15 years old when it was made in a bygone era when Georgy-Porgy was the President and this Democrat has a girlfriend who keeps arguing. Neither would I call it romantic nor a comedy. Its a ridiculous situation.

Worried about disappointing the loyal readers of his internet blog, a political activist decides to make good on a promise he made to move to Canada if George W. Bush was reelected in this Canada/US co- production starring Breckin Meyer. The film is overloaded with political debate (and lots of anti-Bush sentiment), however it nevertheless makes Meyer's road trip less a political one and more a journey of self-discovery in which he learns to be proud to be an American while dealing with personal issues that surface after stopping off at his parents' house along the way. He also learns to become more humble throughout, having built up a false self-image as an important person in the political scene purely due to some campaign work and a blog with a smaller audience than he ever realised. What exactly Anna Paquin's character has to do with his self-discovery journey is less clear. Her role in the narrative is awkward from the get-go with Meyer desperate for companionship as he drives up to Canada. Paquin's character admittedly comes with a few twists that one might not see coming, but the romantic tension between the pair is extremely formulaic and subtracts from Meyer's character growth. All in all, 'Blue State' is a film with enough in it to possibly be worth a look, but with a singular protagonist and a tighter story, it may have been a lot more than just that.

I originally saw this movie a few years ago off Netflix, but wanted to check it out again the other day since I don't think I really gave it full attention the first time around. I do remember enjoying what I had seen. Set in 2004, Breckin Myer stars as a very idealistic liberal-minded young American who promises (like such left-wing celebrities as Alec Baldwin and some others did) to move to Canada if George W. Bush is elected. LOL The movie starts out more as a comedy- I was actually laughing quite a lot at the beginning, but be warned- this is NOT a comedy. I was seeing a lot of user comments saying this same thing. After about the first 15 minutes, it's more a straight-up drama. Well anyway, we all know the outcome of the 2004 election, so Myer's character (unlike most of those celebrities) decides to go through with his promise, and he looks up a site for Americans who want to marry a Canadian (mostly for healthcare reasons), so he can obtain Canadian citizenship. He finds a woman, and takes off on a road trip up north. On the way, he meets a young woman (Anna Paquin) evading military duties, and they make the rest of the trek together, and form an interesting little budding relationship. I read several comments about this film that it paints liberals (and Canadians LOL) in a not-so-positive light, but I really don't think it does. Yes, there is some hypocrisy, but overall the film showed the main character as someone who wanted change, but ultimately realized bailing out was not the way to do so-?? A great scene occurs near the end of the film when he meets an older American living in Canada who left to avoid being drafted into the Vietnam war. Eventually, this guy admits- hey, I was just trying to save my own ass! LOL Well, I highly recommend this little film- I think both liberals and conservatives (and Canadians! LOL) can get something out of this. I don't think either side is really painted in an all-too-negative -or- positive light. Just gives you some good thinking material. And again, do NOT go into this film as a comedy, as the way it was marketed. It's just a quirky little serio (semi- comedic) indie dramatic flick or whatchamacallit-?? LOL

"Blue State" is set after the John Kerry versus George Bush election of 2004. Our hero, John Logue (Breckin Meyer) a staunch democrat vows to move to Canada as a protest if Bush wins. A group called Marry-a-Canadian.ca contacts him and urges him to join them in Winnipeg. So the move to Canada begins. The film is predominantly a road trip. John seeks a driving partner for the trip and finds Chloe (Anna Paquin). There is of course a romance sub-plot between the two. The genius of this film is in the writing of the characters. He's devoted to the left-wing political cause; she's much more mysterious. She guesses what he wants to hear, and he believes her. Although John is extremely liberal, the film isn't. They cleverly wrote in flaws to his character, and although the right-wing characters were more soft-spoken they usually got the last word. People from across the spectrum should be able to appreciate the film. Being liberal myself, I connected to John instantly and his weaknesses just made him that much more endearing to me. The road trip part of the film is extremely well written and moves at a reasonable pace. The Marry-a-Canadian part is just plain weird but luckily they don't spend much time in Winnipeg. And the best part of this film is that it actually has a resolution. I highly recommend "Blue State" to all the John Logues out there.

Its late in the year 2004 and John (Breckin Meyer) is in despair. After working very hard on John Kerry's presidential campaign, our man John is astounded that "W" was re-elected. Not only this, Johnny promised friends at a bar, during the pre-election period, that he would move to Canada, should Senator Kerry lose. Uh oh. Packing up, John advertises for a travel companion, to help with expenses and for company, as he will be going from California to Winnipeg. Soon, a beautiful young lady, Chloe (Anna Paguin) responds to the ad and agrees to go with John. However, she is rather mysterious about why she is leaving the USA. No matter, off the two go. John is somewhat disappointed that on their first hotel stop, Chloe insists on separate rooms, for he can't deny his interest in the young lady. They also make a stop in Washington to see John's parents, since its "on the way", but, it is a dismal and nerve-jangling visit. This is so because John's political views and eating preferences are the complete opposite of his folks. The two younger people leave in a hurry. As they near the border, Chloe suddenly gets cold feet and some secrets surface, ones that startle John. Will the two make it to Winnipeg, where the woman who runs "marry a Canadian for residency" is waiting for them? This is a wonderful film, with plenty of humor and heart. As the two principal stars, Meyer and Paquin are terrific and compliment each other well. The supporting cast, mostly unknowns, is fine, also. The scenery is vibrantly lovely while the costumes, camera work, and steady direction add much to the movie's success. Then, too, the script is relevant, humorous, and touching, although those with conservative political views may not care for it too much and yank it out of the machine. Nevertheless, it has some interesting points to convey that every viewer can admire, no matter what their persuasion. So, if you love romantic comedy and/or films with an abundance of weighty topics, get this one tonight.

I found this film to be quite charming and enjoyable, despite its many faults. When the film started, I was a bit skeptical of using a road trip fueled by political issues as a backdrop for a romantic comedy. However, the superb acting of Breckin Meyer and Anna Paquin caught my eye and kept me intrigued throughout the film. As the plot continued to get more far-fetched, it became more and more obvious that this film was not realistic by any means. I was particularly put off when Meyer's character chooses to stay with the Marry A Canadian organization for more than five minutes. I almost stopped watching when he stayed in the same room with the 50 year old woman. Luckily, the two finally do leave the crazy group in Winnipeg, only about twenty minutes too late in the film. I would recommended fast forwarding through those awkward moments and watching again after the two take off holding an American "terrorist" at gunpoint. After this the plot continues to take some obvious and poorly written turns, but fortunately Meyer and Paquin remain believable and likable throughout the film. When their journey begins, the two awkwardly get to know each other through forced questions due to the fact that they were spending hours alone together in a car. As more gets revealed about each of the characters, it become obvious

I don't care that this movie pokes fun at Canadians even though they completely over-exaggerated EVERYTHING about Canada; some parts were slightly humorous while most all of it was absolutely ridiculous. Overall the movie was really boring. The script was poorly written and the scenes just dragged on forever. There was somewhat of a plot with the fact that the main character was moving to Canada because he wanted to "escape" from America, but there was no climax, nothing to anticipate really, and rather predictable. I was really disappointed and bored and would never ever recommend this to anyone. If anyone is looking for a cute romantic comedy to watch, this is not your movie.